1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of clip boards, lap boards, pilot's knee or lap clip boards, and special purpose lap top work organizers or desks. More particularly, the present invention relates to a two-level lap top desk especially providing a combination, arrangement, and cooperation of features not heretofore available to pilots for their assistance in holding and presenting to a pilot in an aircraft cockpit selected ones of the various and multiple charts, maps, notes, timers, calculators, air traffic control instructions, instrument reading records, and other assistance items which pilots need to use and refer to in their flying.
2. Related Technology
From the early days of aviation, pilots have been known to use various knee or lap boards to hold maps, navigation charts, and various other necessary items in a more or less useable position of presentation for the pilot within the frequently-cramped confines of an aircraft cockpit. For comparatively slow and simple flying conditions in uncrowded skies, simple clip board structures merely adapted to secure to a pilot's leg were sufficient. For example, a pilot's clip board is known in accord with the U.S. Pat. Des. No. 164,269, issued in 1951 to W. L. Whittier. The Whittier clip board appears to include a curved lower support plate by which the clip board may rest upon a pilot's upper leg, there to be secured by a strap. Upon the curved support plate is disposed a clip board with clamps at both top and bottom for receiving maps and papers for note taking, etc. The clip board of Whittier also appears to perhaps offer a limited storage capacity for items like pencils, for example.
A more recent pilots lap board, which is still indicative of comparatively simplistic flying conditions with a minimum of assistance items needed by the pilot is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,314, issued in 1974 to P. L. Berretta. The Berretta lap board folds to open like a book and includes a retention device to hold the two sides of the lap board in alignment with one another. Each side of the lap board includes a clamp for retaining papers or maps, etc., placed thereon. However, the Berretta lap board relies upon simple friction strips on the underside to prevent the board slipping from a pilot's lap.
Along the same line is the document holder taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,249, issued in 1981 to H. C. Goss. The document holder of the Goss patent appears to be a rather conventional clip board having a paper clamp at each of the top and side, and being mounted rotationally upon an arcuate leg-engaging support plate. A strap is provided to secure the support plate to a pilots leg.
Each of the above-identified, and other known pilot's lap desks is deficient in some respect, especially in view of today's very demanding flying conditions. Some lap desks provide insufficient working surface, while others are awkward or unwieldy to use. Still others are not sufficiently secured on the pilot's lap, or don't adequately secure papers, charts, maps, and other items so that the pilot need not be concerned about dropping one of these necessary items at a critical time in his flight. Still other lap desks don't present the materials on the desk to a pilot in a useable or easily viewed arrangement. Some desks may even obscure the pilot's view of some of the desk items or of aircraft controls or instruments, so that a necessary item is not readily available to be used or referred to by the pilot when it is needed, or so that the pilot's use of his lap desk compromises his attention to the aircraft and its flight.
With present high-speed general aviation aircraft, and crowded skies around many airports, a pilot's work load is so high that he simply can not afford to be hindered in any way by deficiencies of a pilot's-assistance appliance, such as his lap desk. This appliance should be so constructed and arranged that maximum utility and ease of use results without much attention on the pilot's part to the use of the desk itself. The times when a pilot most needs to use or refer to the assistance items such as charts for air traffic control areas and airport approach patterns, are the times when he can least afford to be hampered by an inefficient or cumbersome lap desk.
Finally, some lap desks are not convenient to carry or store when they are not in use. If a lap desk will not fit into the pilot's chart case or into an attache case, it presents yet another undesirable loose item which the pilot must carry by hand to and from the aircraft. In addition to all of the in-flight features desired for a pilot's lap top desk, it additionally should be compact and easily carried in a chart case or attache case, or by hand with no concerns for loose items falling out of the desk to be lost.